Cotton Bowl; Aggies Top Irish By 35-10

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Tim Brown ended his Heisman Trophy season today looking for a towel. A crying towel would have done nicely for his Notre Dame teammates and Coach Lou Holtz.

They didn't get any sympathy from Texas A&M, which won the Cotton Bowl, 35-10, sending the Irish to their most decisive defeat of the season.

Brown, who won the trophy for his receiving and his punt and kickoff returning, ended his college career on the sideline as Holtz tried to keep him from the angry Aggies' ''12th man'' - the kick-coverage teams.

Midway through the final quarter, after the Aggies had taken a 28-10 lead, Brown returned an A&M kickoff 14 yards before being stopped. Then Warren Barhorst of the Aggies stole Brown's towel from his belt.

Actually, he hadn't been very lucky in the second half anyway, failing to catch a pass after a fine opening half. During the opening half, he snared six - leaping for three - for 105 yards, including a touchdown.

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In fact, he helped silence the Aggie fans in the crowd of 73,006 when he touched the ball on the opening kickoff and returned it 37 yards. That was one of the longest returns the 12th man has yielded. No one has scored on them since Sherrill created them in 1982 as a way to involve students in the game.

Brown said the reason he didn't play the final 5 minutes was because his back had tensed up. Whatever the reason, it was the second consecutive game he was involved in controversy. In the loss to Miami, the Hurricanes' Bennie Blades supposedly upset him by jawing at him.

But this wasn't a day for Notre Dame to bounce back from its 24-0 drubbing by Miami in its regular-season finale. The Irish seemed to have the fight knocked out of them late in the first half today after they had smartly moved to a 10-3 edge. They went on to commit four turnovers and couldn't stop A&M's rushing game. Likely to Rise

They came in with an 8-3 mark and were ranked 12th in The Associated Press poll. Texas A&M, which is now 10-2, was rated 13th and should move up in the final poll. Almost certainly, it will be among the top six in the 1988 preseason picks.

This is a team, after all, that changes freshman quarterbacks as readily as other teams change cornerbacks.

But they were trailing by 10-3 and looking bad. Brown had helped bring Notre Dame to the Aggies' 18-yard line with a pair of catches, each for more than 20 yards. Then Notre Dame's quarterback, Terry Andrysiak - playing his first game after missing seven games with a broken collarbone - was intercepted in the end zone by Alex Morris.

The Aggies converted that into an 80-yard touchdown drive. It ended with Lance Pavlas, the second quarterback they used, pitching out to Darren Lewis, a runner, who lobbed a 24-yard scoring pass to Tony Thompson.

On their next possession, the Irish lost the ball again, this time Braxston Banks fumbling, although no one hit him after he caught a pass. Texas A&M took over on the Notre Dame 21.

Larry Horton soon scored from the 2 and the Aggies' 12th man lined up, ostensibly to kick an extra point. Instead, the snapper, Scott Lark, tossed the ball behind him to Wally Hartley, who ran over for the 2-point conversion.

Within 2 minutes, Notre Dame's 10-3 lead turned into an 18-10 deficit because of two turnovers.

Unable to run or stop the run, the Irish fell apart in the second half. Bucky Richardson, who was chosen as the game's top offensive player, scored a pair of touchdowns among the 96 yards he gained on only 13 carries.

The Aggies' offensive line dominated the Irish defense, allowing runners to dash through 59 times for 298 yards and three scores.

Besides his six receptions for 105 yards, Brown brought back one punt for 4 yards and six kickoffs for 129 for 238 all-purpose yards. And he kept his towel.

A version of this article appears in print on January 2, 1988, on Page 1001039 of the National edition with the headline: Cotton Bowl; Aggies Top Irish By 35-10. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe